Description:Duchess Millicent was extremely fond of her pets, many photographs showing her posing with her dogs. However, it appears from her papers that the Duchess was particularly fond of her Pekinese dog Gingko, who often accompanied her on her foreign travels.
Duchess Millicent's papers contain a typed manuscript entitled ‘To the Pacific with a Peke’. In the manuscript she writes:
‘On these vasty waters I must own up to my real companion on this trip. Gingko – the Peke. He has been mine from the month, and at three and a half years he has gravely decided to accept this adventure’. She describes Gingko as ‘Fastidious – sharp tempered – gay – sulky – loving – loyal’.
The Duchess notes that Gingko is ‘son of Li, du Royaume des Fees, and Feh, of Chinatown’. Duchess Millicent may have been amongst the earliest owners of the Pekinese breed in England.
Other letters in the collection refer to Gingko’s activities, including letters indicating that he accompanied Duchess Millicent on her travels in America during World War Two.